BRISBANE, Australia – An Indian doctor accused of supporting the foiled car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow will not be extradited to Britain while he faces charges in Australia, the attorney general said Sunday.
Muhammad Haneef, 27, was charged Saturday with providing support to a terrorist organization by giving his mobile phone SIM card to British suspects Sabeel and Kafeel Ahmed when he moved to Australia in July 2006. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.
In Britain, police released two men arrested at a Scottish hospital after the failed attacks. Police said no charges would be filed against the men, a 24-year-old and a 27-year-old arrested at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
With their release, three of the eight people detained in the case have been freed and three have been charged. One suspect is hospitalized with severe burns and under guard, and a Jordanian doctor remains jailed without charges.
Attorney General Philip Ruddock said Haneef's case would most likely be tried in Australia.
"Australia would not normally surrender a person for extradition where there were outstanding matters that had to be dealt with here," Ruddock told Network Ten.
Haneef was ordered to remain in custody in the eastern city of Brisbane until at least Monday while a magistrate decides whether to release him on bail.
Under Australian law, bail can only granted to those charged with terror-related offenses in "exceptional circumstances."
Haneef's wife maintained her husband was innocent and pleaded with authorities to help free him, Indian media reported Sunday.
"I had patience till now because I thought they would not charge him without reason," said Firdaus Arshiya, according to the Sunday edition of the Hindustan Times. "The charges are baseless and senseless."
In Britain, police charged Indian doctor Sabeel Ahmed, 26, with withholding information that could prevent an act of terrorism.
His brother, Kafeel Ahmed, is believed to have set himself ablaze after crashing an explosives-laden Jeep into the Glasgow airport on June 30. Sabeel Ahmed was arrested in Liverpool the day of the Glasgow attack and is due to appear in a London court on Monday.
Haneef is a distant cousin of the Ahmed brothers, with whom he shared a house in Liverpool before moving to Australia for a job at a hospital on Queensland state's Gold Coast.
Haneef's lawyer Stephen Keim has slammed the government's case as "extremely weak," saying his client only left the SIM card so his cousin could take advantage of a special deal on his mobile phone plan.
A total of three people have now been charged since a pair of cars packed with gas cylinders and nails were found in central London on June 29. The next day, two men crashed a flaming Jeep Cherokee, loaded with gas canisters and gasoline, into security barriers at Glasgow airport's main terminal.
On Saturday, a British judge gave police until July 21 to continue questioning a Jordanian doctor, Mohammed Asha, 26, who was detained on a northern England highway on June 30. He was detained with his wife, Marwa Asha, who was released Thursday without charge.
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